One Male Extender Found to Actually Work

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One noninvasive technique to lengthen penises— penile traction
devices — shows promise, according to a new review of research.
But researchers say most men who seek longer penises don't really
know the long and short of their situation.

"Penile size is a matter of great interest among men who are
affected by 'short penis syndrome' or just believe themselves to
have a small penis, even though the dimensions of the organ fall
within the normal range," write urologists Marco Oderda and Paolo
Gontero in the current issue of the British Journal of Urology
International.

Oderda and Gontero, both from the University of Turin, Molinette
Hospital, in Italy, concluded that for those men who have a
normal-size penis yet persist in requesting treatment, penile
extenders may be the way to go. Cognitive behavioral therapy may
also be useful for building confidence in these men with
psychological issues causing the mismatch between reality and
what's in their head, they write. [Related: Penis
Myths Debunked ]

What works

Several nonsurgical
methods for lengthening the penis, such as penile traction
gadgets, vacuum devices, penoscrotal rings and even "physical
exercises," have been popularized in the media.

To get a real picture of the science on such devices, the
researchers did an extensive search for studies on the topic of
"short penis" and associated treatments, ending up with just 10
studies that met their criteria.

Based on one study, vacuum devices got a failing mark, showing no
significant penile elongation after six months of therapy, though
the researchers of that study noted it provided psychological
satisfaction for some men. Penile-lengthening exercises also had
no science backing up their effectiveness.

The few well-conducted studies on penile extenders, which use
mechanical traction to progressively elongate the penis, showed
these devices can produce an "effective and durable lengthening
of the penis," the researchers write.

For instance, a small study published in 2002 in the
International Journal of Impotence Research showed a
penis stretcher called Andropenis could add 0.7 inches (1.8
centimeters) on average to the sex organ after four months of use
for at least six hours a day. That extender device showed promise
in another study with six months of use for at least four hours a
day. And the Golden Erect extender was shown to increase penis
length in participants of a study published in 2010 in the
Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Who's seeking treatment?

Many men who are concerned with their penis's small stature
suffer from "dysmorphophobia," a condition where people see some
imaginary flaw in physical appearance as real — in this case a
false perception of penis inadequacy, the researchers say.

And apparently this
male body-image problem is on the rise. According to
LiveScience's Bad Medicine columnist, Christopher Wanjek, "Many
men long to have something longer, even though few have a penis
that is too small to copulate or pleasure their partner. This
anxiety over size is called penile dysmorphophobia, and it is on
the rise worldwide as men turn to
pornography and compare notes."

Urologist Nicola Mondaini of the University of Turin in Italy
agreed, telling LiveScience "this trend is increasing."

That said, penile shortening is a real medical phenomenon and can
be caused by so-called a radical prostatectomy for prostate
cancer, Peyronie's disease (an acquired penile deformity of the
erect penis) and as a result of embryonic or developmental
defects. In addition, a so-called "hidden penis," caused by
obesity, aging with an overlying fold of abdominal fat and skin,
and a shortage of penile skin from circumcision, for instance,
can also "shorten" the penis.

As for how prevalent penile dysmorphophobia is, in one study
published in the International Journal of Impotence Research in
2002, 67 men with a median age of 27 came to the university
hospital in Italy within a two-year period complaining of having
a short penis. None of the patients fell into the category of a
short penis; in other words, all were of normal size.

Sixty percent of the men said their feeling of inadequacy down
there started in childhood when they noticed their friends were
more endowed. Fifty-seven of these patients thought a normal
penis length was somewhere between 3.9 and 6.7 inches. (10 and 17
cm). The others didn't know what "normal length" was. These
results suggest penis lengthening is not the answer, the
researchers pointed out in that study.

One of the largest penis-size studies involved more than 3,000
men and found similar results – that most men seeking size
enhancement were within the normal size range and overestimated
the average penis size. That study was published in the
International Journal of Impotence Research in 2002.